PICC Property & Casualty
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*At the time of publication

Profile

PICC P&C is the largest property and casualty insurer in China and was established in July 2003. It was listed on the HKEX in November 2003. Its insurance products include motor vehicle, commercial property, cargo, liability, accidental injury, and short-term health policies. In FY23, its total assets and equity reached Rmb704bn and Rmb234bn, respectively.

Previous Close Price

Key Statistics

Dec RMB mn20232024f2025f
PE (X)
Div Yield (%)4.54.65.3
P/BV (X)1.1x1.0x0.9x
Source: Analec ( At the time of publication )

Recent Developments

Our Views

Acceleration of y/y premium growth in FY24/25/26F. 1H24 premium growth had slowed down from last year’s 8.5% y/y to 3.7%, mainly due to soft growth in agriculture insurance. We expect y/y growth in premiums to accelerate from 2H24F, reaching mid-to-high single digit in FY24/25/26F, due to a) an increase in auto premium growth as fiscal subsidies boost auto sales; b) stabilisation of pricing, with mitigation of price competition in the auto segment; c) cross-selling initiatives across segments; and d) a likely recovery in agriculture insurance in FY25F, supported by ongoing policy initiatives.

Expect well-controlled COR due to improved product mix. Despite high natural catastrophe (NatCat) losses in 1H24, COR has been well controlled at 96.2%, thanks to a) agriculture COR improving by 2.1ppt to 88.9% with the underwriting of more profitable products, b) control of marketing and administration expenses, and c) improvement in COR for personal new energy vehicles (NEVs) to below 100%. We expect PICC P&C to achieve its COR target of 97% for auto and 100% for non-auto in FY24F on a) effective risk prevention measures to reduce the loss ratio in NatCat events (e.g., notifying auto owners to move their vehicles to a safe location before flooding occurs), b) continued improvement of NEV COR with more data accumulated and practice, and c) expected improvement in business mix in non-auto segment, with lower exposure to underwriting losses from the liability and commercial property segments.

Book value growth also supported by investment gains. PICC P&C’s book value is positively correlated to equity market movements, with a 6.8% increase in equity for every 10% increase in the stock market, given its higher investment allocation to equity (24% by end-1H24) compared to Chinese lifers (12%-15%). With a sustained rally in the A-share market, we believe the insurer’s book value is likely to maintain teen-level growth.

Raise TP to HKD14, reiterate BUY. To factor in investment gains from the sustained A-share market re-rating, we have revised up our FY24F/25F earnings by 1%/0.4% and add FY26F forecasts. We have raised TP to HKD14 from HKD12.5, pegged to 1.0x FY25F P/B (previously 0.9x). Based on sustained improvement in underwriting profit and investment performance, we reiterate BUY.

Risks

Intensifying competition, unfavorable policy, increasing frequency of natural catastrophes, and slower-than-expected economic growth in China.

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Note: All views expressed are current as at the stated date of publication.

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